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33  1914 


BULLETIN 


OF 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OFJTEXAS 


( 


No.  286 


FOUR  TIMES  A  MONTH 


EXTENSION  SERIES  35 


JULYS,  1913 


TEXAS'  NEED  OF  THE  SERVICES  OF 
HIGHER  EDUCATION 

PRIZE  ORATIONS   IN    THE    STATE    ORATORICAL 

CONTEST,  1913,  HELD  UNDER  THE  AUSPICES 

OF  THE   HOGG   ORGANIZATION 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  TEXAS 

AUSTIN,  TEXAS 

Entered  as  second-class  mail  matter  at  the  postoffice  at  Austin,  Texas 


LA^o, 


PREFACE 

This  bulletin  contains  the  three  prize-winning  orations  in  a 
State  oratorical  contest  for  prizes  offered  by  the  Organization  for 
the  Enlargement  by  the  State  of  Texas  of  its  Institutions  of 
Higher  Education.  The  contest  was  open  to  all  Texas  colleges  and 
State  normal  schools,  the  awards  consisting  of  a  first  prize  of  $100 
cash,  a  second  prize  of  $60,  and  a  third  prke  of  $40.  To  the  col- 
lege whose  representative  wins  first  place  was  also  awarded 
a  silver  loving  cup  valued  at  $50.  For  the  purpose  of  prelimi- 
nary contests  the  State  was  divided  into  six  districts,  each  with  a 
district  director.  The  contest  was  held  at  the  University  on 
the  night  of  April  25,  1913,  the  six  districts  being  represented  by 
delegates  from  Abilene  Christian  College,  Baylor  University,  Blinn 
Memorial  College,  Burleson  College,  Clarendon  College,  and  the 
University  of  Texas.  Mr.  D.  C.  Hobbs,  representing  Baylor  Uni- 
versit}^,  won  first  place;  Mr.  R.  L.  Skiles,  representing  the  Univer- 
sity of  Texas,  second  place;  and  Mr.  C.  Q.  Smith,  representing 
Clarendon  College,  third  place. 

As  this  bulletin  goes  to  press,  it  is  not  known  if  the  Hogg  Organ- 
ization will  be  able  to  renew  the  offer  of  prizes  for  a  similar  con- 
test. In  any  event,  a  State  oratorical  contest,  with  similar  rules 
and  organization,  will  hereafter  be  held,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Intercollegiate  Peace  Association.  Address  inquiries  to  E.  D. 
Shurter,  State  Chairman,  University,  Austin. 


M272867 


TEXAS'  NEED  OF  THE  SERVICES  OF  HIGHER.  EDUCA- 
TION FOR  THE  SCIENTIFIC  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  "THE  MAN  WITH  THE  HOE." 

BY  D.  C.  HOBBS. 

(The  following  oration  was  awarded  first  prize  in  the  Hogg  State  Ora- 
torical Contest,  held  at  the  University  of  Texas,  April  25,  1913.  Mr. 
Hobbs  represented  Baylor  University.) 

The  first  man  born  into  the  world  became  a  tiller  of  the  soil. 
From  that  primitive  time  until  this  glorious  age  the  farm  has 
bten  the  basis  of  all  progress  and  the  bed-rock  of  every  civilization. 
It  has  ever  been  and  will  ever  remain  of  supreme  importance  to  all 
mankind.  It  produces  the  food  that  nourishes  earth's  toiling  mil- 
lions., and  forms  to-day  the  foundation  of  America's  national  pros- 
perity and  power.  The  farmer  was  destined  to  bear  the  burdens 
of  the  world;  and  though  chance  and  fate  have  combined  to  wreck 
his  fortunes,  he  has  survived  the  tests  of  time.  From  his  skill 
and  energy,  from  his  success  in  reaping  bountiful  returns  from 
nature,  is  drawn  the  life  sustaining  power,  which,  circulating 
through  the  channels  of  every  other  industry,  vitalizes  them  into 
agencies  of  happiness  and  wealth.  Upon  him  depends  directly  or 
indirectly  every  industry,  and  upon  his  tanned  shoulders  of  brawn 
rests  the  burden  of  feeding  and  clothing  the  world,  while  at  the 
same  time,  he  is  chief  customer  for  products  of  all  industries. 
Back  of  all  progress,  back  of  every  forward  movement  in  the  march 
of  man,  stands  this  "Hard-handed  son  of  Labor",  earth's  most 
modest  but  worthy  prince.  And  a  careful  study  of  existing  con- 
ditions in  Texas  proves  that  nothing  will  more  surely  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  commonwealth  than  an  intelligent  application  of 
scientific  methods  in  her  agriculture. 

To-day  serious  and  vital  problems  are  confronting  the  Texas 
farmer.  The  land  which  has  been  yielding  the  food  that  has  sus- 
tained his  people  for  three  generations  is  losing  its  humus  and 
futility;  the  rapid  migration  of  the  boys  and  girls  from  nature's 
garden  of  wealth  to  the  cities  of  vice  and  corruption  has  left  the 
country  without  sufficient  leadership;  and  the  supremo  need  and 
value  of  scientific  education  among  the  farmers  is  the  pressing 
-qaestion  of  the  hour.  The  only  hope  for  the  prosperity  of  genera- 


— 6— 

tions  to  come  is  to  revolutionize  and  make  a  complete  change  in 
the  present  system  of  wanton  devastation  and  impoverishment. 
The  farmer  should  build  a  great  agricultural  foundation,  to  reclaim 
his  depleted  farms,  by  restoring  the  fertility  of  the  soil ;  to  find  and 
transform  the  farmers  into  closer  social  relations;  and  to  establish 
farming  on  a  broader  and  firmer  scientific  basis  than  ever  before 
attained  by  the  skill  of  human  industry. 

The  lack  of  scientific  education  among  the  farmers  is  costing 
Texas  millions  of  dollars  annually.  The  lands  unguarded  by  the 
skilled  hand  of  science  are  rapidly  coming  to  depletion,  exhaustion, 
and  devastation.  Each  passing  year  adds  numerous  farms  to  the 
thousands  of  unfertile  acres.  The  careless  impoverishment  of  the 
soil  is  due  to  depletion  by  erosion,  exhaustion  by  single  cropping, 
and  devastation  by  the  great  loss  of  humus.  The  farmer,  ignorant 
of  the  economy  in  controlling  the  waters  of  flooding  rains,  has  per- 
mitted the  most  productive  part  of  the  soil  to  be  carried  off  into 
the  small  streams  and  rivers.  His  ignorance  of  the  disastrous 
effects  of  single  cropping  has  robbed  the  soil  of  its  nutritive  ele- 
ments and  more  especially  of  phosphorus,  the  most  expensive  ele- 
ment and  the  one  hardest  to  replace.  This  destruction  of  the  essen- 
tial source  of  nutriment  for  the  plant  has  greatly  increased  the 
price  of  food  products  by  lessening  the  supply,  and  if  continued, 
will  lead  to  poverty.  Destroy  the  virgin  soils  of  anv  state,  and 
you  strike  at  the  very  foundation  of  its  wealth  and  prosperity. 

How  to  check  the  migration  of  the  youth  from  the  country  to 
the  city  is  another  grave  problem  which  Texas  must  solve.  One 
of  the  most  unfortunate  phases  of  modern  civilization  is  the  drift 
away  from  the  farm — the  drift  of  country  youth  to  city.  The 
rural  districts  of  Texas,  as  elsewhere,  today  are  constantly  paying 
a  tribute  to  the  city  in  the  sacrifice  of  their  best  blood,  their  best 
brain,  and  the  finest  physical  and  moral  fiber  in  the  world.  Chaf- 
ing under  the  lack  of  good  schools,  good  roads,  and  proper  social 
environments,  and  being  repelled  by  the  hardships,  excessive  toilrf 
and  meager  gains  of  farm  life,  the  strongest  and  most  promising 
youth  leave  the  farms  to  seek  better  opportunities,  to  acquire 
wealth,  influence  and  position  in  the  city.  Thousands  of  those 
who  flock  to  the  crowded  cities  ultimately  pay  the  price  in  the  loss 
of  health,  of  honor,  and  of  life.  Led  on  by  the  resistless  force  of 
temptation,  they  become  wrecked  in  physique  and  warped  in  char- 
acter, contaminated  with  vice  and  crime.  Texas  should  provide  the 


7 
~ 

test  known  methods  for  the  scientific  training  of  the  youth  in  the 
field  of  agriculture,  not  only  for  the  conservation  of  her  greatest 
natural  resources,  the  soil,  but  for  the  conservation  of  the  boys 
and  girls — her  richest  product, 

The  Texan  is  beginning  to  understand  that  farming  is  a  science 
as  well  as  a  business,  an  art  as  well  as  a  labor.  He  is  awakening 
to  the  cold  fact,  that  lands  which  have  had  thousands  of  years 
in  making  are  destroyed  in  a  single  generation,  and  that  he  must 
care  for  the  tremendous  issues  which  are  involved  in  the  permanent 
prosperity  of  agriculture  and  the  maintaining  of  a  high  standard 
of  education  among  the  rural  people.  Through  the  operation  of 
agricultural  schools  and  colleges*in  the  state,  the  farmer  is  learn- 
ing the  principles  of  scientific  industrial  education,  and  in  them 
he  creates  a  love  and  appreciation  of  country  life.  Give  to  the 
farmer  every  accessible  truth  of  science  to  the  same  degree  that  the 
mechanic  commands,  and  there  will  be  found  in  the  rural  world  men 
with  scientific  knowledge  producing  the  finished  product,  a  full 
harvest. 

One  great  phase  of  modern  methods  of  farming,  perhaps  at  pres- 
ent the  greatest  in  Texas,  is  the  farmers'  cooperative  demonstra- 
tion work.  By  this  system  the  simple  and  well  established  princi- 
ples of  agriculture  are  directly  taught  on  the  farms.  The  people, 
b}  demonstrations,  are  persuaded  to  believe  that  the  tilling  of  the 
foil  through  applied  scientific  knowledge  will  revolutionize  farming 
into  a  new  industry,  and  raise  the  standard  of  rural  life  to  a  posi- 
tion of  comfort  and  efficiency  never  before  known.  The  demon- 
stration work  creates  in  the  youth  a  love  of  the  farm,  and  instills 
in  his  nature  a  new  hope  by  showing  the  real  value  of  the  soil 
when  properly  managed,  and  the  ease  with  which  wealth  and  dis- 
tinction are  gained  in  rural  life  when  science  and  art  combine,  lie 
is  forced  to  grant  that  "Only  solvent  people  are  tillers  of  the 
soil"  and  that  the  unscientific  farmer  is  fettered  by  bonds  more 
difficult  and  enduring  than  those  of  the  "Chattel  Slave". 

A  significant  feature  in  the  development  of  Texas  agriculture 
is  the  change  in  the  attitude  taken  towards  the  farmer.  A  genera- 
tion ago  farming  was  regarded  by  many  of  our  best  people  as  an 
undesirable  occupation  suitable  only  for  those  who  lacked  brains 
and  education  to  enter  a  profession,  but  science  has  revealed  in  it 
possibilities  hitherto  unknown.  The  successful  farmer  of  the 


future  must  recognize  that  farming  in  a  scientific  manner  is  an 
honorable  occupation,  for  it  requires  the  greatest  industry  and  skill 
of  man.  He  must  know  how  to  deal  with  the  enemies  of  all  farm 
plants;  select  seed  for  future  crops;  realize  the  value  of  liberal 
fertilization  and  better  tillage;  restore  the  fertility  of  the  soil; 
make  fruitful  his  untilled  acres  and  produce  a  bounteful  crop 
with  a  minimum  of  labor.  The  n.iiural  productivity  of  the  soil 
is  only  half  developed  and  the  land  simply  awaits  more  careful  and 
intelligent  farming  to  double  its  yield.  When  the  farmer  applies 
scientific  methods  in  this  great  work,  then  and  only  then  will 
the  soil  produce  its  best,  and  farming  be  recognized  as  Texas'  great- 
est industry. 

As  the  farm  is  the  producing  hope  of  the  consuming  state,  Texas 
agriculture  must  make  a  wonderful  development  in  the  future,  if 
it  is  to  nourish  starving  humanity.  Four  millions  of  hungry  souls 
awake  every  morning  to  be  fed.  Year  I}7,  thousands  of  immigrants 
flock  to  Texas  ports,  settle  down  in  the  cities  and  add  to  the  present 
high  cost  of  living  by  consuming  without  producing.  The  mil- 
lions toil,  are  cold  and  hungry,  Texas  moves  forward,  yet  Texas 
stands  still.  The  same  cry  that  has  resounded  down  the  centuries 
of  time,  "give  us  bread",  is  yet  to  be  heard.  What 'then  must  be 
done?  The  age  was  when  "Man  furrowed  his  brow,  bended  his 
back  and  crumbled  away  before  his  time,  all  in  an  effort  to  scratch 
from  earth  a  few  grains  of  wheat  with  which  to  keep  the  spark  of 
life  flickering  within  his  starved  and  shivering  body."  But  the 
<nge  of  the  hoe  has  passed.  Brain  and  not  brawn  will  henceforth  be 
the  ruling  power  on  the  farm,  and  the  ultimate  solution  of  the 
problem  must,  if  solved,  come  through  the  new-born  generation  of 
educated  farmers. 

Back  of  all  the  conscious  work  that  is  going  on  in  Texas,  back 
of  all  visible  attainments,  there  is  a  great  work  in  progress.  It  is  a 
building  of  a  mighty  agricultural  foundation.  It  is  a  structure 
that  must  stand,  and  the  word  of  inspiration  warns  the  farmer  to 
be  careful  how  he  builds  it,  to  see  that  he  has  a  foundation  that 
will  endure.  "It  is  made  clear  by  every  process  of  losric  and  by 
proof  of  historic  fact,  that  the  wealth  of  a  state,  the  character  of 
its  people,  the  quality  and  permanence  of  its  institutions,  are  all 
dependent  upon  a  sound  and  sufficient  agricultural  foundation." 
Texas'  virgin  fields  must  never  be  given  over  to  ruthless  ruin  and 


—9— 

destruction.     Through  science  this  man  "bowed  by  the  weight  of 
centuries"  will  be  enabled  to  claim  his  own. 

With  dauntless  cheeks  and  unflinching  eyes  this  weary  son  of  the 
soil,  who  has  fought  the  battles  of  peace  and  borne  the  burdens  of 
war  throughout  the  ages,  now  stands  with  educated  hands  and 
trained  feet  before  the  golden  dawn  of  a  new  era.  His  ever  widen- 
ing vision  beholds  through  proud  and  happy  tears  the  penciling 
streaks  of  early  morn  that  foretell  the  matchless  splendor  of  the 
coming  day  of  his  untold  possibilities.  Not  armies  whose  tread 
shakes  the  land,,  not  navies  whose  guns  sweep  the  sea,  not  commerce 
whose  whirling 'wheels  are  heard  around  the  world,  but  the  intelli- 
gent cultivation  of  the  farm  forms"the  anchor  that  will  hold  stead- 
fast and  secure  our  civilization  through  the  political  and  economical 
storms  that  will  lash  to  fury  the  ever  fluctuating  sea  of  the  future. 
Nearby  this  well  cultivated  farm  of  to-morrow  I  see  the  vine-clad 
cottage  of  the  farm  endowed  with  all  the  conveniences  of  city  life. 
Automobiles  and  turnpikes,  telephones  and  daily  mail  delivery,  a 
church  and  school  house  on  every  hill  and  a  free  library  in  every 
settlement,  will  link  home  to  home,  .community  to  community,  and 
thus  regain  for  man  a  "Paradise  Lost/'  Then  the  intrepid  son? 
and  the  charming  daughters  of  the  farm,  destined  as  they  are  to 
be  the  motive  power  of  the  state's  greatness,  will  no  longer  look 
upon  farm  life  as  a  drudgery,  but  as  the  happiest  and  most 
independent  life  of  the  land.  Then  and  not  till  then,  will 
proper  prestige  and  power,  glory  and  honor  be  meted  out  to  this 
sovereign  of  the  soil,  this  king  without  a  crown — "The  man  with 
the  Hoe." 


—10— 


THE  COMMONWEALTH'S  NEED  OF  THE  SEEVICES  OF 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  PREPARATION 

OF  THE  TEACHERS'  IN  OUR  PUBLIC 

SCHOOLS. 

BY  R.    L.   SKILES. 

(The  following  oration  was  awarded  second  honors  in  the  Hogg  State 
Oratorical  Contest,  held  at  the  University  of  Texas,  April  25,  1913.  Mr. 
Skiles  represented  the  University  of  Texas.) 

I  shall  discuss  before  you  this  evening  the  commonwealth's  need 
of  the  services  of  higher  education  in  the  preparation  of  the 
teacher  of  our  public  schools.  From  the  very  nature  of  public 
education  it  is  apparent  to  all  that  the  public  school  teacher  is  the 
channel  through  which  all  educational  influences  reach  the  masses 
of  the  children  of  our  state.  This  discussion,  though  dealing 
directly  with  public  school  teachers  and  their  efficiency,  is  in  its 
final  analysis  a  plea  for  the  boys  and  girls  who  attend  the  public 
schools  of  our  state.  It  is  their  welfare  that  is  primarily  concerned, 
and  as  I  present  the  conditions  which  obtain  among  the  teachers 
of  Texas,  the  motive  back  of  it  all  will  be  to  show  the  results  of 
these  conditions  upon  the  children  of  Texas,  and  hence  upon  the 
commonwealth  as  a  whole.  In  this  discussion  I  want  to  get 
clearly  before  your  minds  two  things  which  are  of  fundamental 
importance  in  determining  the  need  for  the  services  of  higher 
education  in  the  preparation  of  school  teachers :  First,  I  want  you 
to  know  the  present  intellectual  status  of  the  teachers  of  Texas. 
Second,  I  want  to  show  that  the  fundamental  principles  underlying 
the  teaching  process  demands  more  highly  educated  teachers  than 
we  now  have. 

The  present  intellectual  status  of  the  teachers  of  Texas  is,  to  be 
sure,  a  very  intangible  quantity.  No  man  could  presume  to  say 
definitely  just  what  the  status  is.  The  State  Department  of 
Education,  however,  has  recently  compiled  certain  statistics  which 
may  be  taken  as  criteria  of  that  status.  I  have  gone  over  the  sta- 
tistics carefully  with  the  statistics  clerk  of  the  Department  of  Edu- 
cation, and  we  have  divided  them  into  two  main  groups :  First, 
those  dealing  with  the  teachers  in  "the  rural  schools;  and  second, 


—11— 

those  dealing  with  the  teachers  in  the  city  schools.  Such  a  division 
is  absolutely  essential  if  one  is  to  arrive  at  a  wise  and  a  just  conclu- 
sion concerning  the  needs  of  Texas  teachers  as  a  whole,  for  Texas 
is  primarily  an  agricultural  state;  two-thirds  of  the  teachers 
of  Texas  teach  in  rural  school?;  two-thirds  of  the  children  in 
Texas  attend  rural  schools.  Any  conclusion  concerning  the  needs 
of  Texas  teachers  as  a  whole  must,  therefore,  be  based  upon  the 
conditions  in  the  rural  schools.  With  this  idea  before  your  minds, 
let  me  present  the  statistics : 

There  are  14,362  teachers  in  the  rural  schools  of  this  state; 
2,239  are  graduates  of  high  schools;  1,021  are  graduates  of  State 
formal  Schools;  617  are  graduates  of  colleges  of  some  sort.  There 
remain  10,485,  or  73  per  cent  of  all  the  rural  teachers  of  this  state, 
who  are  graduates  of  no  school  whatsoever. 

There  are  7,400  teachers  in  the  city  schools  of  this  State;  2,280 
are  graduates  of  high  schools ;  1,605  are  graduates  of  State  Normal 
Schools;  1,349  are  graduates  of  colleges  of  some  sort.  There 
remain  2.167,  or  28  per  cent  of  all  the  city  teachers  of  this  state, 
who  are  graduates  of  no  school  whatsoever. 

The  efficiency  of  the  rural  teacher  is  but  one-sixth  that  of 
the  city  teacher. 

Before  we  draw  any  conclusions  from  these  statistics,  let  us  exam- 
ine for  a  moment  the  fundamental  law  governing  the  teaching  pro- 
cess. Teaching  is,  in  a  sense,  simply  the  flow  of  knowledge  from 
one  mind  into  another.  True,  this  is  not  the  whole  of  the  teaching 
art,  but  it  will  serve  to  illustrate  my  point.  The  teacher  represents 
[he  source  of  flow;  the  taught  represents  the  recipient  of  that 
flow.  Now,  the  questions  naturally  arise:  Under  what  conditions 
will  flow  take  place?  Ho'w  long  may  flow  continue?  And 
when  does  flow  become  impossible?  We  know  how  to  answer  these 
questions  from  experience,  and  by  common  sense.  Knowledge 
flows  from  higher  to  lower  levels;  so  long  as  there  is  a  difference 
in  levels,  flow  may  take  place.  When  the  levels  become  equal,  flow 
becomes  impossible. 

The  teaching  process  is  still  better  illustrated  by  a  current  of 
electricity:  If  T  take  a  storage  battery  of  ten  volts  capacity,  and 
wish  to  charge  from  that  source  another  battery,  all  that  I  need 
to  do  is  to  connect,  the  two  by  a  conductor  and  the  flow  of  electric- 
ity immediately  begins.  The  flow  continues  until  the  uncharged 


—12— 

battery  has  received  a  charge  of  ten  volts,  then  it  ceases.  The 
battery  from  which  I  took  the  charge  has  lost  no  electricity  what- 
ever, and  the  uncharged  battery  has  received  just  ten  volts,  which 
is  the  capacity  of  the  source.  Now.  it  does  not  matter  what  the 
capacity  of  the  uncharged -battery  may  be,  it  may  have  a  capacity 
for  a  thousand  volts,  but  it  can  receive  only  ten  volts  from  that 
source.  If  I  wish  my  uncharged  battery  to  perform  a  work  requir- 
ing one  hundred  volts,  I  must  charge  it  from  a  different  source 
entirely.  This  process  is  exactly  analogous  to  the  teaching,  process, 
and  with  this  conception  constantly  before  our  minds,  let  us  turn 
again  to  those  statistics,  and  interpret  them  in  the  light  of  this 
fundamental  law. 

What  means  it  that  73  per  cent  of  the  rural  teachers  of  this 
state  are  not  even  graduates  of  a  high  school?  It  means,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  that  73  out  of  every  100  boys  and  girls  in  the  rural 
schools  of  this  State  have  never  come  into  contact  with  an  intellec- 
tual force  capable  of  charging  their  minds  with  mental  power 
greater  than  that  of  a  high  school  graduate.  What  means  it  that 
the  rural  teacher  has  but  one-sixth'  the  efficiency  of  the  city  teacher  ? 
It  means  that  iwo-thirds  of  ALL  the  school  children  of  Texas  are 
taught  by  teachers  whose  efficiency  is  but  one-sixth  that  of  those 
who  teach  the  remaining  one-third.  We  are  told  that  a  cultivated 
mind  is  the  guardian  genius  of  a  democracy.  Has  a  democracy 
builded  wisely  and  firmly  when  two-thirds  of  its  citizens  are  given 
but  one-sixth  the  opportunity  for  mental  development  as  the  re- 
remaining  ONE-third  ?  Is  that  equal  rights  to  all  ?  Is  that  demo- 
cratic ?  Is  such  a  condition  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  com- 
monwealth as  a  whole  ?  Imagine,  if  you  can,  all  the  school  children 
of  Texas  gathered  together.  Walk  through  that  vast  audience,  and 
two  out  of  every  three  children  you  meet  have  never  had  a  teacher 
capable  of  charging  their  minds  with  mental  power  greater  than 
that  of  a  high  school  graduate.  Think  what  varied  mind  capacities 
must  be  there  represented;  what  a  void  must  exist  in  the  minds  of 
that  unfortunate  two-thirds !  .  What  tremendous  possibilities  are 
there  going  to  waste.  What  marvelous  resources  are  there  left  un- 
developed. What  an  inequality  in  the  chances  for  success  in  life. 
Above  all,  what  a  menace  to  the  prosperity  of  the  commonwealth  as 
a  whole  is  there  represented  in  the  criminal  neglect  of  divine 
intelligence. 


—13— 

There  has  recently  been  placed  upon  the  statute  books  of  this 
State,  a  rural  high  school  law.  If  the  services  of  higher  education 
in  the  preparation  of  public  school  teachers  were  needed  before,  this 
law  renders  such  service  absolutely  imperative.  Between  the 
grammar  school  and  the  high  school  there  is  a  distinct  gap.  Just 
at  this  point  comes  the  transition  period  in  the  child's  mental 
development.  Transitions  in  all  lines  of  development  are  occa- 
sioned by  danger;  in  the  line  of  mental  development  they  are  es- 
pecially dangerous.  Ninety  per  cent  of  all  those  who  fall  by  the 
Avayside,  and  are  lost  to  educational  influences  before  attaining  col- 
lege standing,  fail  just  here  in  making  the  transition  from  grammar 
school  to  high  school.  All  educators  are  agreed  that  the  gap  be- 
tween the  grammar  school  and  the  high  school  represents  the 
most  dangerous  chasm  which  the  pupil  is  called  upon  to  cross  in 
the  course  of  his  mental  development.  The  most  skillful  teachers 
are  required  to  pilot  the  young  learner  across  that  chasm  in  safety, 
for  one  false  step  and  he  falls,  not  to  physical  death  it  is  true,  but 
(o  a  death  scarcely  less  tragic — the  death  of  his  mental  develop- 
ment. 

The  grammar  school  represents  one  level  of  attainment;  the  high 
school  represents  another,  higher  level.  The  transition  consists  in 
raising  the  pupil  from  the  lower  to  the  higher.  Now,  there  are 
clearly  but  two  means  by  which  the  pupil  may  be  raised :  either  he 
may  be  lifted,  as  with  a  derrick, —  a  leading  process  in  which  the 
teacher  goes  before, — or  he  may  be  pushed  upward,  the  teacher 
coming  behind.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us,  this  latter  concep- 
tion is  the  popular  one;  people  persist  in  believing  that  a  teacher 
can  raise  a  pupil  to  a  higher  intellectual  plane  than  he  himself  has 
attained.  Let  us  grant  for  the  moment  that  such  be  possible, 
and  examine  the  result.  The  teacher  in  the  rural  school  comes  to 
the  brink  of  the  chasm  separating  grammar  school  from  high 
school ;  he  may  even  catch  a  vision  of  the  beauties  beyond,  and  have 
an  intense  desire  to  cross,  but  he  does  not  know  the  safe  passage. 
The  rural  teacher  cannot  lead  him  across,  for  he  himself  has  not 
made  the  passage  in  safety.  There  the  pupil  stands  upon  the 
brink,  irresolute,  balked.  Suddenly  there  comes  a  push  from  be- 
hind, and  he  steps  forward.  Does  he  strike  the  safe  passage?  He 
does  not  know.  His  teacher  does  not  know.  What  do  you  think 
of  the  chances? 


—14— 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  two-thirds  of  the  school  children  of  Texas 
are  called  upon  to  cross  that  chasm  under  the  conditions  which  I 
have  just  described.  What  should  we  do?  Shall  we  abolish  the 
high  school  law?  No;  let  us  bring  to  the  aid  of  that  teacher  the 
services  of  HIGHER  education ;  let  us  make  of  Kim  a  safe  guide ; 
let  us  teach  him  the  safe  passage ;  then  he  can  take  the  pupil  by  the 
hand,  and  lead  him  across  in  safety,  and  not  push  him  into 
he  knows  not  what. 

"Whosoever  sees  farther  than  his  neighbor  is  that  neighbor's 
servant  to  lift  him  to  such  higher  level."  This  is  the  principle 
proclaimed  more  than  half  a  century  ago  by  the  great  agitator, 
Wendell  Phillips.  In  this  principle  is  contained  the  very  essence  of 
a  democracy.  It  is  the  only  sure  foundation  upon  which  a  democ- 
racy can  safely  rest.  It  becomes  the  duty  of  us  who  have  been 
fortunate  enough  to  have  realized  the  advantages  of  higher  educa- 
tion, to  extend  the  means  of  securing  those  same  advantages  to  every 
member  of  our  democratic  commonwealth.  This  is  but  our  plain 
duty  as  citizens,  as  men  of  moral  courage.  In  behalf  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  Texas  who  are  now  denied  such  an 
opportunity,  in  behalf  of  the  incalculable  mental  power  which  those 
boys  and  girls  possess,  in  behalf  of  the  best  interests  of  this  com- 
monwealth as  a  whole,  I  appeal  to  you  for  higher  education  in  the 
preparation  of  the  teachers  of  our  public  schools. 


—15— 


TEXAS3  XHED  OF  THE  SERVICES  OF  HIGHER  EDUCA- 
TION FOR  THE  ELEVATION  AND  ENRICHMENT 
OF  INDIVIDUAL  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER. 

BY   C.    Q.    SMITH. 

(Tin1  following  oration  was  awarded  third  honors  in  the  Hogg  State 
Oratorical  Contest,,  held  at  the  University  of  Texas,  April  25,  1913.  Mr. 
Smith  represented  Clarendon  College.) 

Life  is  more  than  protoplasm;  it  is  also  adjustment. 

Through  his  highly  developed  intellect  man  is  enabled  to  carry 
to  greater  fruition  the  imminent  ends  of  existence.  We  are  taught 
in  biology  that  as  the  cerebrum  increases,,  the  creature  becomes  less 
dependent  upon  instinct  for  survival,  and  that  education  produces 
such  changes  in  the  brain  as  insure  safe  later  reaction  upon  the 
world. 

The  man  who  can  act  from  remote  as  well  as  immediate  stimuli 
is  at  a  distinct  advantage  in  comparison  with  the  man  who  reacts 
only  from  the  immediate  stimuli.  The  individual  who  is  learned 
moves  upon  safer  ground  than  the  man  of  mere  experience.  The 
former  sees  dangers  afar  off,  while  the  latter  discovers  them  not 
until  they  are  at  hand,  and  must  depend  upon  his  wits  to  avoid 
them.  The  illiterate  knows  not  bow  to  call  himself  to  account. 
He  may  employ  his  natural  talents,  but  not  increase  them.  He  may 
hide  his  faults,  but  not  improve  them,  he  is  an  unskilled  woods- 
man who  continues  to  chop  without  stopping  to  grind  his  ax.  The 
man  of  learning,  on  the  contrary,  corrects  his  mind  with  the  use 
thereof. 

If  men  could  be  brought  to  realize  that  the  perplexities  of  today 
are  due  chiefly  to  the  ignorance  of  how  to  adjust  the  principles  of 
life,  and  that  the  greatest  end  a  personality  can  attain  is  through 
developing  high  ideals,  and  in  promoting  their  interests,  the  tasks 
of  men  would  be  easily  solved.  As  man  rises  superior  to  his  limita- 
tions and  through  knowledge  turns  them  into  elements  of  strength 
and  power,  he  grows  in  individuality  and  usefulness. 

"Higher  education  is  the  eternal  process  of  superior  adjustment 
of  the  physically  and  mentally  developed,  free,  conscious,  human 
being  to  God,  as  manifested  in  the  intellectual,  emotional,  and  voli- 


—16— 

tional  environment  of  man/'  Nature  is  man's  heritage,  and  it  is 
his  rightful  power  to  subdue  it  and  make  its  forces  administer  to 
his  needs.  But  since  nature  does  not  prepare  man  in  the  pre-natal 
period  for  living,  adjustment  must  be  learned  in  the  post-natal 
period.  Only  through  the  highest  development  and  best  adjust- 
ment to  environment  is  man  able  to  put  the  plastic  element  into 
his  life.  Truth,  beauty,  and  goodness  are  as  infinite  as  the  Eternal, 
and  are  waiting  to  be  revealed  to  man's  growing  intellect,  developing 
emotions  through  his  finite  will.  The  World  is  the  world  without 
us,  it  behooves  us  to  make  it  flesh.  The  mind  creates  its  own  world 
and  pursues  self-appointed  goals.  As  man  thinketh,  so  is  he. 
"Through  the  mind  are  the  avenues  of  the  soul."  Science,  art,  and 
volition,  reached  by  the  intellect,  the  emotion,  and  the  will  of  man, 
are  thoughts,  feelings,  and  plans  of  God  in  the  world.  The  world 
is  conformable  to  the  mind  of  man,  "who  partially  is,  and  wholly 
hopes  to  be."  The  uneducated  are  shut  off  from  the  more  refined 
pleasures  of  life,  because,  having  eyes  they  see  not,  having  ears  they 
hear  not,  and  having  minds  they  comprehend  not  the  beautiful  ele- 
ments in  nature.  Only  when  we  understand  the  principles 
and  corollaries  of  our  being  can  we  work  in  harm  on  v  with  them. 
Whole  life  cannot  be  found  this  side  of  whole  truth, — the  sum 
total  of  things  that  are.  The  quality  of  civilization  depends  upon 
man's  knowledge  of  man  and  what  he  has  done.  History  that  can 
not  be  applied  to  our  everyday  life  for  the  purpose  of  bettering 
our  citizenship  is  vain.  Through  Astronomy,  Geology,  Biology, 
and  Sociology  are  we  brought  to  face  the  unity  of  Cosmic  Laws. 

Education  is  the  potency  of  free  and  responsible  living.  It  is 
the  amelioration  and  elevation  of  one's  existence.  Education  puts 
new  significance  into  life,  helps  man  to  adjust  the  inner  and  the 
outer  self,  and  lights  up  all  our  action;  brings  out  the  interrelation 
of  the  different  parts  of  reality,  and  enables  us  to  observe  truth, 
energize  goodness,  and  appreciate  beauty.  It  frees  individuality, 
emancipates  personal  powers,  and  widens  the  outlook;  universalizes 
our  individual  nature  and  socializes  our  impulses;  helps  us  to 
understand  the  beautiful  and  the  ugly,  and  enables  us  to  enjov  the 
one  and  remove  the  other ;  to  understand  the  good  and  the  bad  and 
so  cling  to  the  one  and  hate  the  other;  to  unite  the  material  and 
the  spiritual.,  the  matter  and  the  mind,  the  real  and  the  ideal ;  ren- 
ders mind  susceptible  to  improvement  and  reformation.  "It 


—17-- 

softens  the  barbarity  and  fierceness  of  men's  minds,  mitigates  the 
fear  of  death  and  adverse  fortune,  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  im- 
pediments to  virtue  and  morality." 

Education  builds  libraries,  galleries,  museums,  hospitals  and  asy- 
lums. It  establishes  churches  and  charities.  It  creates  scientists, 
artists,  and  writers.  It  has  led  men  from  savage  hatred  to  univer- 
sal brotherhood.  It  has  transformed  battlefields  as  if  by  magic 
into  beautiful  parks  and  green  valleys.  It  has  bridled  the  light- 
ning, harnessed  the  mighty  currents  of  wind  and  wave  to  do  the 
will  of  man.  It  is  as  stable  as  the  sun,  and  if  encouraged,  will 
prove  as  luminous  to  the  world. 

Learning  does  not  induce  indolence,  but  rather  accustoms  the 
mind  to  perpetual  growth ;  nor  is  there  any  fear  that  learning  should 
displace  business,  for  it  defends  the  mind  against  the  prejudice 
both  of  business  and  of  pleasure.  To  say  that  blind  custom  of  obe- 
dience to  laws  of  government  and  Deity  is  safer  obligation  than 
duty  understood.,  is  to  argue  that  a  blind  man  may  tread  surer  by  n 
guide  than  a  man  with  his  eyes  open  in  the  light. 

Man  is  full  of  savage  and  unreclaimed  desires,  and  if  he  main- 
tains peace  and  hope,  he  must  hearken  to  precepts,  laws,  philosophy, 
and  religion.  But  if  these  instruments  become  silenced,  he  falls 
bnok  into  confusion  and  anarchy;  for  wisdom  and  learning  pre- 
serve him  from  errors  by  whispering  to  him  when  counselors  stand 
rnute. 

"All  social  and  political  phenomena,  are  the  manifestations  of  life 
and  ultimately  dependent  upon  the  laws  of  life."  But  they  can 
never  be  understood  until  the  laws  of  life  are  understood. 

Xo  man  was  ever  born  free.  Nature  holds  him  in  bondage  and 
he  must  evolve  into  freedom.  It  is  a  personal  achievement  won 
through  inspiration  and  education.  There  is  no  power  given  man 
by  which  he  may  set  up  a  throne  in  himself,  but  the  power  of  knowl" 
edge;  by  such  he  is  enabled  to  approach  nearest  the  Divine  Sover- 
eignty. As  the  mind  selects  the  action  and  makes  him  free  is  he 
free  indeed.  The  liberally  trained  man  "knows  the  truth  and  the 
truth  makes  him  free — feels  the  beautiful  and  the  beautiful  makes 
him  gentle — wills  the  good  and  the  good  makes  him  strong/'  Yon- 
der in  the  jungles  of  Africa  is  a  wretch  trembling  under  the  rat- 
tle of  Jove's  chariots,  hiding  in  a  dark  cave,  lest  a  spark  from  the 
altar  of  the  angry  gods  falls  upon  him ;  while  down  at  the  station  a 


—18— 

delicate-fingered  girl  touches  a  key  that  sends  your  thoughts  around 
the  world.  What  is  the  difference?  One  does  not  know  how  to 
control  the  lightning,  and  the  other  does.  One  is  a  slave  there  in 
the  forest,  the  other  is  free  to  all  the  world. 

Ignorance  and  selfishness  are  the  only  deep-seated  influential 
enemies  to  happiness  and  order.  They  are  ever  presnt  obstacles 
to  improving  the  condition  of  man. 

We  are  living  under  complex  and  rapidly  varying  conditions. 
The  world  has  long  been  under  the  spell  of  abstract  principles,  and 
yet  the  people.,  in  a  large  measure,  are  not  able  to  organ- 
ize themselves  and  their  business  so  that  those  principles  may 
find  just  and  equitable  expression.  Old  beliefs  and  old  customs 
are  giving  away  to  truth,  and  as  the  time-honored  creeds  pass  out 
other  and  more  imperative  truths  must  follow,  or  we  shall  fall 
into  intellectual,  political,  and  moral  apathy.  To  avoid  these 
errors,  we  must  develop  guiding  principles  with  which  to  work.  To 
fail  to  do  this  will  mean  suicide  to  our  race.  Japan  and  China 
have  rolled  back  the  curtains  that  have  long  concealed  them  and  are 
welcoming  the  light  of  reason  and  knowledge. 

The  autocrat  no  longer  lives  in  a  cave  and  argues  with  a  club. 
Tyrants  no  longer  dole  out  liberty  to  a  few  favorites  only, — with 
education  came  liberty.  It  overthrew  boastful  privileges  and  built 
constitutional  government  on  ruined  tyranny. 

Texas  needs  the  services  of  higher  education  for  the  elevation 
and  enrichment  of  individual  life  and  character,  because  Texas, 
as  a  whole,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  sum-total  of  the  indi- 
viduals who  compose  the  state.  Solon,  when  asked  if  he  had  given 
his  citizens  the  best  laws,  replied:  "The  best  they  are  capable  of 
receiving."  If  men's  standard's  are  raised,  if  their  citizenship  be 
real,  intellectual,  sincere  and  vital,  the  state  is  always  safe.  Laws 
may  change,  but  principles  underlying  the  existence' of  law  will 
never  change  if  the  individuals  of  the  Commonwealth  are  well 
informed,  for  the  intellectual  look  upon  law  with  high  regard,  while 
the  ignorant  and  anarchic  look  upon  law  as  caprice  and  would  de- 
stroy it  and  return  to  chaos. 

A  statistical  view  of  the  educational  condition  in  Texas  will  show 
the  further  need  of  higher  education.  More  than  fifty  per  cent 
of  the  scholastic  population  never  complete  the  fifth  grade,  about 
five  per  cent  enter  High  School,  and  less  than  one  per  cent  enter 


—19— 

College.  Why  should  our  beloved  Lone  Star  State,  rich  in  re- 
sources beyond  'the  dreams  of  avarice,,  slumber  thus? 

One  out  of  every  forty  graduates  against  one  out  of  every  ten 
thousand  non-graduates  reaches  the  distinction  of  a  place  in  the 
"Cyclopaedia  of  Biography."  We  find  that  only  one  man  out  of 
every  seven  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  United  States  has  gone  to  col- 
lege, yet  out  of  this  small  number  have  come  17  of  the  26  presi- 
dents, 19  of  the  27  vice-presidents  and  17'  of  the  34  persons  in  the 
Hall  of  Fame.  Alexander  the  Great  in  a  letter  to  Aristotle  gave 
him  to  understand  that  he  esteemed  it  more  glorious  to  excel  others 
in  learning  than  in  power  and  empire.  This  is  substantiated  by  his 
attitude  toward  Diogenes  upon  seeing  him  contented  with  so  little, 
he  turned  to  his  courtiers,  who  were  deriding  the  cynic's  condition, 
and  said :  "If  I  were  not  Alexander,  I  would  be  Diogenes/' 

Socrates  was  persecuted  during  the  reign  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants, 
when  learning  was  a  crime.  Eome  never  reached  the  acme  of  em- 
pire till  she  arrived  at  the  height  of  arts;  for  when  she  was  at 
her  zenith  there  lived  Virgil,  Livy,  and  Cicero.  When  Cassar  ac- 
complished the  reformation  of  the  Calendar,  he  is  reported  to  have 
paid  that  he  esteemed  it  as  great  a  glory  to  observe  and  know  the 
laws  of  the  heavens  as  to  give  laws  to  men  on  earth.  The  excel- 
lent works  of  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Macaulay,  Carlyle,  and  Addison 
ore  not  the  effects  of  undisciplined  talent,  but  of  learning  and  pre- 
cept. 

We  find  given  in  the  celestial  hierarchy  of  the  supposed  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite  that  the  angels  of  knowledge  and  illumination  are 
placed  before  the  angels  of  office  and  domination.  Christ  himself 
showed  first  His  power  to  subdue  ignorance  by  conferring  with 
priests  and  doctors  of  the  law,  before  He  showed  His  power  to  sub- 
due Nature  by  miracles.  St.  Paul,  the  most  learned  of  the  Apos- 
tles, wrote  most  of  the  N"ew  Testament.  Emperor  Julian,  who  pro- 
hibited Christians  the  schools,  was  accounted  a  greater  danger  to  the 
faith  than  all  the  sanguinary  persecutions  of  his  predecessors. 

Higher  education  is  capable  of  perpetual  renovation.  The  dig- 
nity of  learning  aspires  us  to  the  securing  of  immortality.  The 
verses  of  Homer  have  lived  long  after  the  temples,  castles  and  cities 
of  Greece  crumbled  into  dust.  Great  is  the  magnificent  ocean 
steamer  that  majestically  carries  commodities  from  place  to  place, 
but  how  much  more  should  letters  be  valued,  which  like  ships,  con- 


—20— 
vey  knowledge  through  the  great  ocean  of  time  to  the  remotest 


Learning  effectually  excites  the  exaltation  of  God's  glory,  and 
offers  a  singular  and  sure  preservation  against  unbelief  and  error. 
Our  Saviour  bears  us  out  in  this  when  He  said,  "Ye  err,  not  know- 
ing the  Scriptures,  nor  the  will  of  God.*'  Thus  implying  that  if  we 
should  be  free  from  error,  we  must  study  the  revelations  and  will  of 
the  God  of  nature,  that  our  understanding  might  be  opened  to  the 
true  sense  of  the  Scriptures,  not  only  by  general  notions  and  rules 
•of  speech,  but  also  opened  chiefly  to  a  due  consideration  of  the 
-omnipotence  of  the  Creator.  As  heaven  and  earth  contribute  to 
the  use  and  benefit  of  man,  the  end  ought  to  be  by  higher 
education  both  to  separate  and  reject  vain  and  empty  speculation, 
and  preserve  and  increase  all  that  is  solid  and  fruitful.  Lord 
Bacon  says  that,  "Undoubtedly  a  superficial  tincture  of  philosophy 
may  incline  the  mind  to  atheism,  yet  a  further  knowledge  brings 
it  back  to  religion,  for  on  the  threshold  of  philosophy,  where  sec- 
ond causes  appear  to  absorb  the  attention,  some  oblivion  of  the 
highest  cause  may  ensue  but  when  the  mind  goes  deeper,  and  sees 
the  dependence  of  causes  and  the  works  of  providence,  it  will  easily 
perceive,  according  to  the  mythology  of  the  poets,  that  the  upper 
link  of  Nature's  Chain  is  fastened  to  Jupiter's  throne/' 

So  let  us  not  pursue  knowledge  out  of  a  natural  curiosity  and 
inquisitive  temper  to  entertain  the  mind  with  variety  and  delight; 
for  ornament  and  reputation;  for  victory  and  contentment;  for 
wealth  and  livlihood,  but  "For  employing  the  Divine  gifts  of  reason 
to  the  use  and  benefit  of  mankind."  Let  us  not  seek  in  knowledge 
a  couch  for  a  searching  spirit,  a  park  for  a  wandering  mind,  a 
fort  or  vantage  ground,  a  shop  for  profit,  but  a  storehouse  for  the 
.glory  of  the  Creator  and  endowment  of  human  life. 


—21— 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Book  of  Job. 

"Advance  in  Learning."  Bacon. 

•''Self  Measurement,"  Hyde. 

* 'Ed  1.1  ca t  i on  ,"  Spencer. 

"Thought  and  Action,"  Brooks. 

"Eternal  Life,"  Henry  Drnmmond. 

"Be  Correct,''  Jno.  McGrover. 

"Grains  and  Brains/'  McGrover. 

"'The  Public  Anchor/'  McGrover. 

Kdiu-ational  Review.  Mar.  1909,  Pages  298-305. 

Kdiicational  Review,  Oct.  1909,  "The  Call  to  Citizenship." 

Educational  l?eview,  Nov.  1909,  Pages  364-72. 

Educational  Review,  Mar.  1912,  "The  Dam  Is  Out." 

"Philosophy  of  Education,"  Home. 

"What  Is  Worth  While."  Anna  Robertson  Brown. 

"Pushing  to  the  Front,"  0.  S.  Marden. 

"'Data  of  Ethics,"'  Spencer. 

"'Elements  of  Sociology."  Giddings. 

"Sociology,"  Dealy. 

"Elements  of  Psychology,"  Davis. 

"The  Intellectual  Life,"  Hamerton. 

•'American   Scholar,"  Emerson. 

"Essay  on  Man,"  Pope. 

"Paths  to  Power,"  Frank  W.  Gunsalus. 

Texas  Christian  Advocate,  Jan,  2,  1913. 

"Fmidamemals,"  Vol.  YTI,  "The  Passing  of  Evolution."  Wright. 


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